Icebreakers, Team 
                                                                     Building Activities, 
                                                                           and Energizers 
                  
                 About this Resource 
                 Whether it is a small gathering at your home or a large training seminar, we all want to feel that we 
                 have established some commonality with our fellow Lions. By creating a warm, friendly, and 
                 personal learning environment, Lions will participate more and learn more. One way to do this is to 
                 incorporate group activities, such as icebreakers, team building activities, and energizers. 
                 What is an icebreaker? The term "icebreaker" comes from "break the ice", which in turn comes from 
                 special ships called "icebreakers" that are designed to break up ice in arctic regions. And just as 
                 these ships make it easier for other ships to travel, an icebreaker helps to clear the way for learning 
                 to occur by making the learners more comfortable and encouraging conversation. Specifically, an 
                 icebreaker is an activity designed to help people to get to know each other and usually involves 
                 sharing names and other background information. 
                 A team building activity is designed to help groups form bonds and become a team. Team building 
                 activities differ from icebreakers in that the group members already have learned each other’s 
                 names, and perhaps some personal information, and the focus is on making the group become 
                 more cohesive. 
                 Energizers are quick, fun activities to liven up a group. They are particularly useful after a meal, 
                 when groups may be getting sluggish, or late in the day when energy is waning and motivation is 
                 decreasing.  
                 Often an icebreaker, a team building activity and an energizer overlap.  For example, during an 
                 activity in which participants are asked to line up in alphabetical order by first name, participants will 
                 learn each other’s names (typical of an icebreaker), they’ll work together as a team to form the line 
                 (teambuilding), and become invigorated by being able to get up and move around the room (an 
                 energizer). As a result, the activities in this resource are grouped together according to how they 
                 might be used instead of how they are defined. 
                 Listed on the pages that follow are activities to facilitate introductions, to introduce a topic, to review 
                 concepts recently learned, to encourage team building, and to energize. There are also some 
                 miscellaneous activities at the end that you might find interesting or useful. 
                  
                  
                  
                  
                  
               Activities to Facilitate Introductions 
               These icebreakers can be used to help participants relax and ease into a meeting or training; and to 
               help participants learn each other's names and personal/professional information. 
               When participants are meeting for the first time, start with an icebreaker that helps everyone to 
               learn names and personal/professional information. If you are facilitating more than one session, 
               choose a few icebreakers -- you can use one to get people chatting and exchanging personal 
               information, another to help memorize or review names, and another at a stretch break. 
                
               Seating Plan 
               Ask participants to arrange their seats: 
                     * alphabetically, according to first name, or 
                     * sequentially, in order of birthday month and date 
                
               Marooned 
               You are marooned on a island. What five (you can use a different number, such as seven, 
               depending upon the size of each team) items would you have brought with you if you knew there 
               was a chance that you might be stranded. Note that they are only allowed five items per team, not 
               per person. You can have them write their items on a flip chart and discuss and defend their 
               choices with the whole group. This activity helps them to learn about other's values and problem 
               solving styles and promotes teamwork. 
                
               Who’s Done That? 
               Prior to the meeting, make a list of about 25 experiences or skills that might be useful to individual 
               Lions. For example, a list for a group of Lions might have some of the following:  
                
                   o   Developed a Lions club website                          o   Has taken an online course on the 
                   o   Has applied for an LCIF grant                               Lions Learning Center 
                   o   Has attended a Lions Leadership                         o   Has been a club officer  
                       Institute                                               o   Is good at using PowerPoint 
                   o   Has visited the LCI website                             o   Led a community service project 
                
               Ensure there is plenty of space below each item (3 or 4 lines) and then make enough copies for 
               each person.  
                
               Give each person a copy of the list and have him or her find someone who can sign one of the 
               lines. Also, have them put their job title and phone number next to their names. Allow about 20-30 
               minutes for the activity.  
                
               Give prizes for the first one completed, most names (you can have more that one name next to an 
               item), last one completed, etc. As a result of this activity, participants will have a list of Lions who 
               can serve as resources, and will have learned about each other. 
                
               Alliteration Introductions 
               An excellent game for players to get to know each other's names. Ask group members to stand in a 
               circle, if room space permits. A player starts the game by introducing himself or herself by making a 
               gesture, and alliterating his/her name, e.g. "I'm Wonderful Wendy" or "I'm Smart Steve". The next 
               player points to the first player, repeats the previous player's name, attribute and gesture, and 
               does something similar about himself or herself.  
                
               And so on. The game ends with the first player having to do every other player's gesture, repeating 
               their names and attributes. 
               Source:  http://www.humanpingpongball.com/gm.html 
       
      Chaos 
      Material Needed: 3-4 soft small objects (stuffed animals, koosh balls, bean bags) 
      Time Required: 10 minutes 
      Group Size: 8-20 
      Purpose: Physical energizer, name game 
      1.  Organize participants into a circle. Go around the circle once and have each participant 
        introduce him or herself by name.  
      2.  One person begins by tossing one of the objects to someone else, saying, "Hi, Name of 
        Person!”  
      3.  The person who catches the object then says, "Thanks, Name of tosser!" and repeats by 
        tossing to someone else in the circle.  
      4.  Names must be said each time the item is tossed or caught.  
      5.  3-4 items may be in place at once, but make sure to space them 30-60 seconds apart from each 
        other. 
      Geographic Location 
      Each group member is from a different geographic location, but together they will form a map.  
      (Note: if group members are not from different geographic locations, assign them one). Ask each 
      group member to stand where he/she thinks they belong to make a map as close to scale as 
      possible. 
      Name and Number  
      As people walk into the gathering, put their name on one side of an index card, and a number on 
      the other side. As everyone walks around with their name showing (on the index card that is taped 
      to their shirt), they have to try to introduce themselves to as many people as they can. After a bit of 
      mingling, tell everyone to turn over his or her name tags, so that the number on each card is 
      showing rather than the name. Now give everyone a numbered piece of paper, and see who can fill 
      in the most names next to the corresponding number. 
       
      Pat on the Back 
      Have everyone draw an outline of their hand on a sheet of paper, then tape it to their back. Have 
      group members mingle and write things on everyone’s back that tells them something positive. 
       
      Meeting Warm-Ups 
      Quick ideas to get people focused on each other and ready to participate! 
      This activity can be done with a group of any size. 
       
      Time Required: The activity can be as long or as short as you would like. 
      Materials: None 
      Physical Setting/Location: Needs to be in a location where group members form a circle. 
       
      Instructions: 
      Go around the circle and complete one of these sentences:  
      I became a Lion because… 
      The best project I ever worked on was… 
      Being a Lion has taught me that… 
      When people ask me about Lions Clubs International, I tell them… 
      This year I plan to… 
       
      Each person in the circle should answer the question before a new question is issued to the group. 
       
       "I Have Never" (10 Fingers) 
       Each person starts off with some candy. Going around the circle, each person finishes the 
       sentence "I have never..." Everyone who HAS done what they have never done gives that 
       person one of their candies. A fun way to learn things you might otherwise not find out about 
       people. 
        
       Two Truths & A Lie 
       To allow participants to get to know and appreciate one another better, through discovering both 
       common and unique interests and experiences. To help level the playing field within a group 
       through making human connections that aren’t related to either organizational or power structures. 
       To help people begin to be more comfortable talking and listening with one another. 
         
       Group Size: This activity can be done with a group of any size 
       Time Required: Each person will take about 3-5 minutes 
       Materials: None 
       Physical Setting/Location: This activity can be done either inside or outside – standing up or sitting 
       down. 
        
       Instructions: 
         1.  Tell participants that they must introduce themselves to the group, coming up with two true 
           statements/facts about themselves and one lie. 
         2.  Ask for a volunteer to start with their two truths and a lie – have them share all three with the 
           group. 
         3.  Whoever guesses the correct lie, will go next. 
         4.  Some participants may want to expand on their truth statements, depending upon how 
           elaborate they are!
                     
        
       Me Too 
       This activity works best for small groups or with a large group divided into smaller groups of 4-6 
       participants. 
        
         1.  Everyone in the group gets 10 pennies/toothpicks/scrap of papers, etc.  
         2.  The first person states something he/she has done (e.g. water skiing).  
         3.  Everyone else who has done the same thing admits it and puts one penny in the middle of 
           the table.  
         4.  Then the second person states something (e.g. I have eaten frogs' legs).  
         5.  Everyone who has done it puts another penny in the center.  
         6.  Continue until someone has run out of pennies 
        
       Common Ground 
       This also works best for small groups or for each small group sitting together as a team (4-6 
       learners). Give the group a specific time (perhaps 5 minutes) to write a list of everything they all 
       have in common. Tell them to avoid the obvious ("we're all taking this course"). When time is up, 
       ask each group how many items they have listed. For fun, ask them to announce some of the most 
       interesting items.